Economics revision notes

One chapter for each section of the 2281 syllabus, with worked examples. Read a chapter, then practise it with real past-paper questions.

1. 1The basic economic problemScarcity and choice, the three economic questions, economic and free goods, the factors of production and their rewards, opportunity cost, and production possibility curves.7 min read
2. 2The allocation of resourcesMarkets, demand, supply and the price mechanism, equilibrium and disequilibrium, price changes, price elasticity of demand and supply, the market and mixed economic systems, market failure and government intervention.19 min read
3. 3Microeconomic decision-makersMoney and banking, what influences household spending and saving, workers' choices and wages, different kinds of firms and mergers, economies of scale, production and productivity, costs and revenue, firms' objectives, and competitive and monopoly markets.16 min read
4. 4Government and the macroeconomyMacroeconomic aims and their conflicts, the government budget and fiscal policy, taxation, monetary policy, supply-side policy, economic growth and recession, employment and unemployment, and inflation.14 min read
5. 5Economic developmentMeasuring living standards with real GDP per head and the Human Development Index, absolute and relative poverty and the policies to reduce it, population growth and structure, and why countries differ in economic development.8 min read
6. 6International trade and globalisationSpecialisation and free trade, globalisation and multinational companies, tariffs, quotas, subsidies and embargoes and why they are used, foreign exchange rates and what changes them, and the current account of the balance of payments.12 min read